Romania repelled

Johnnie Beattie and Rob Dewey both hit the ground running with impressive try-scoring performances in their first outing for Scotland

Before the start of yesterday’s stroll in the park for Scotland, team sponsors The Famous Grouse regaled us with two labels they had printed up to commemorate whichever of David Callam or Jim Hamilton would become the country’s 1,000th cap (in the event, it was the latter). Depending on one’s perspective, you could have regarded this as proof positive that this match was being viewed as a marketing exercise or as a monumental occasion in the history of Scottish rugby. But whatever one’s interpretation, the reality was this didn’t feel like a proper international, and for all that the Romanians huffed and puffed, the anticipated comfortable victory for the hosts duly materialised.

In terms of number crunching, the fact that Johnnie Beattie’s debut marked the 15th father-and-son combination who have represented their birthplace, was probably more significant in the longer term. A steely-eyed competitor, and one blessed with remarkable sangfroid